Can't Be Really Gone
by Peggy Schultz
Summary: Alternate Universe after Jedi Apprentice # 8, where Qui-Gon did not take Obi-Wan back as his padawan. Obi-Wan is held prisoner by a group of terrorists, while everyone at the Jedi temple believes that he was killed. COMPLETE!!!
1. Default Chapter

Disclaimer: The Star Wars characters, and the Star Wars universe that I borrow them from belong to George Lucas. The story belongs to me. You can use my story on your site if you want, just let me know first.  
  
Title: Can't Be Really Gone Characters: Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan, Adi Gallia, and Siri. Age: Obi-Wan is 13. Rating: PG-13 Summary: Alternate Universe after JA# 8, where Qui-Gon did not take Obi-Wan back as his padawan. Obi-Wan is held prisoner by a group of terrorists, while everyone at the Jedi temple believes that he was killed. Author: Peggy Schultz Date: 09/12/02 Email: masterobiwankenobi@msn.com  
  
Authors Note: This is my first Star Wars fan fiction so please let me know what you think.  
  
  
  
Can't Be Really Gone  
  
Part I  
  
  
  
Obi-Wan Kenobi took a quick glance up at his new master, Craydin Shaw, trying to determine whether or not the young knight had noticed his fidgeting.  
  
Since Craydin had asked him to be his apprentice, Obi-Wan had been trying very hard to be the perfect padawan. He did not want to disappoint Master Craydin the way that he had disappointed his first master, Qui-Gon Jinn.  
  
While on a mission to the planet Melida/Dann Obi-Wan had made friends with some kids and had decided to help his new friends, and leave the Jedi order. It was a mistake, one that had cost him the trust of Qui-Gon. After that the Jedi Master did not feel that he could trust Obi-Wan again and did not take him back as his apprentice.  
  
Qui-Gon had lost his previous padawan, Xanatos, to the dark side, and was reluctant to take on a new padawan. Obi-Wan hadn't realized until it was too late that his actions on Melida/Dann had hurt Qui-Gon nearly as much as Xanatos had. Obi-Wan was crushed when he found out that Qui-Gon would not take him back again, but he knew that he no longer deserved to be his padawan learner.  
  
"Obi-Wan," Craydin said, "is something wrong?"  
  
"I'm ok, Master Craydin, it can wait," Obi-Wan said. Craydin had obviously noticed his fidgeting.  
  
"Obi-Wan if something is wrong you can tell me, I remember what it was like to be a padawan, I know how boring these negotiations can be to a young boy," Craydin said through the new training bond that they had finally been able to establish after nearly four months as master and padawan.  
  
"No, Master Craydin," Obi-Wan said through the bond, "I just need to use the fresher, but I can wait, really."  
  
"Don't be silly, padawan, go to the fresher, it may be a while before we break for lunch. Do not be afraid to ask for something. And perhaps next time you will not drink quite so much juice for breakfast," Craydin smiled.  
  
"Thank you Master," Obi-Wan said and quickly got up and made his way to the public freshers, which were located in the east wing of the building, on the opposite side of the conference hall.  
  
Just after exiting the freshers Obi-Wan felt a sudden sense of danger through the force, right before someone ran into him from behind, and knocked him to the ground hard. He heard his lightsaber hit the floor and slide a few meters away from him from the force of the huge man who had run into him. Obi-Wan could feel blood trickling down his chin from where he had bit his lip.  
  
"I'm very sorry, kid," the man said extending his hand towards Obi- Wan. The man's voice was deep and husky sounding.  
  
Obi-Wan let the larger man help him to his feet, before saying, "that's ok, but maybe you should try taking your time in the future."  
  
"True," the man laughed, "I was in a bit of a hurry, but you came out of the room so suddenly. "Are you alright, you are bleeding?"  
  
Obi-Wan wiped the blood away on the sleeve of his robe, and said, "I'm fine, I just bit my lip." Obi-Wan then walked over to retrieve his fallen lightsaber; he was glad that Master Craydin was not with him to see that he had lost his lightsaber.  
  
"Hey, you're that Jedi student, aren't you?" the man asked.  
  
Obi-Wan did not answer him as he reached his lightsaber, and bent down to pick it up. Before he could get a hold of it, the man grabbed his arm, preventing him from picking it up without the use of the force.  
  
"Why are you here Jedi boy?" the man asked.  
  
Without answering him, Obi-Wan used the force to call the weapon to his other hand as he suddenly felt a sting in his hand. He realized that the man had a syringe in his other hand, and had just injected something into his arm.  
  
Obi-Wan ignited his lightsaber, and spun around to face the man, "what did you do to me?" he asked, as his arms and legs began to feel numb, and his vision began to blur alarmingly.  
  
"Sorry, Jedi boy, I can't let you tell your master about the bomb," the man said.  
  
"Bomb," Obi-Wan said, the word sounded slurred, as his legs no longer could hold his weight and he fell to his knees. He had to get up, and warn his master, but that was the reason he had been given the drug in the first place. His lightsaber slipped out of his weakening grasp, and again fell to the floor, with Obi-Wan falling unconscious besides it a few seconds later.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
Knight Craydin Shaw sat still in his chair in the front of the conference hall, of the Vardell capital building. The Vardelli people had just forced their corrupt government officials out of office, and had asked for Jedi assistance to make sure that they did not have any trouble during the negotiations to find a more suitable government for the small planet. So far the negotiations had been going smoothly, and they had already decided on the candidates that the Vardelli citizens would vote for, from three of the seven sectors. They, however, still had the army generals, police generals, and the planetary governor candidates to decide on.  
  
Suddenly Craydin, felt a sense of danger through the force, and immediately dropped his hand to his lightsaber. He checked the conference hall for the danger, and then stood up, as he realized that his padawan was in danger.  
  
"Excuse, major Disounti," Craydin said to the major that sat beside him, "I must check on my padawan," Craydin explained keeping his hand near the hilt of his lightsaber.  
  
"Is something wrong? Do you want me to send some of my men to look for the boy for you?"  
  
"No, that won't be necessary, I'll be right back," Craydin assured him. The major nodded and then looked back up to the stage.  
  
As the knight made his way to the exit of the conference room, the captain of the army of the third sector stopped him. "Jedi Craydin, is there a problem with the negotiations?"  
  
"No, Captain Wainan, my padawan learner went to use the fresher fifteen minutes ago and I'm just concerned that he may have gotten himself lost. I just wanted to check on him," Craydin said leaving out the urgent sense of danger that he had felt through the force.  
  
"Aw yes, my children are the same way. They seem to have a knack for getting themselves 'lost' although my mate and I call it wandering off," the captain smiled at Craydin. "And the freshers are on the opposite side of the building from here, perhaps you are worrying yourself over nothing."  
  
"I'm sure that you are right, but I'd rather been sure that he is safe," Craydin said.  
  
"I'll let you know if you miss anything," Captain Wainan said.  
  
"Thank you," Craydin said, and quickly exited the conference hall and began to make his way towards the freshers.  
  
As he neared the freshers the sense of danger seemed to grow more urgent, and it no longer was for his padawan alone. Suddenly a loud explosion shook the building knocking Craydin to the ground with its massive force. As he fell to the floor he could hear the terrified screams of the people who were in the capital building. Craydin had no time to stop the subsequent chaos, as the ceiling above him collapsed on top of him burying him under debris. His last conscious thought was that he hoped Obi-Wan would be ok.  
  
*** * ***  
  
Qui-Gon Jinn sat in the cockpit of the transport that would take him back to the Jedi temple. It was his first trip back to the temple since after he had told his former padawan Obi-Wan Kenobi that he would not accept him back as his apprentice. He could tell that the thirteen-year- old boy had been upset by his refusal to take him back, but Obi-Wan had accepted it with out complaint.  
  
While on his last mission with Adi Gallia and her young padawan Siri Tachi, for which they were now returning from, Qui-Gon had begun to miss Obi-Wan's presence, and had decided that if the boy had not been chosen as anyone else's padawan yet that he would ask him to be his padawan again. He would even go back to the Agri-Corps to get him if he had to. His good friend Tahl would be glad if Obi-Wan became his padawan again, Qui-Gon mused.  
  
"Are you thinking about a joke, Qui-Gon?" Adi asked as she entered the cockpit, and sat down beside Qui-Gon.  
  
"Hmm, what?" Qui-Gon asked, he hadn't heard her enter the cockpit.  
  
"You were just smiling," Adi said, "it's not often lately that I've seen you smile. Were you thinking of a joke?"  
  
"Oh, I hadn't realized that I had smiled. I was just wondering how Obi-Wan is doing, and I was thinking that if no one else had chosen him as a padawan yet that I would ask him."  
  
"Adi frowned slightly before saying, "Qui-Gon, I'm sorry, but, Clee Rhara told me that her last padawan Craydin Shaw who had been knighted just over a year ago had chosen Obi-Wan as his padawan."  
  
"Craydin Shaw," Qui-Gon said, "I didn't even know that he had been knighted," Qui-Gon said. He could remember going on a mission with Clee Rhara, Craydin Shaw, and his former padawan Xanatos.  
  
"Yes, Clee was very proud when she found out that Craydin had chosen Obi-Wan. He has became a great Jedi Knight, Siri and I went with him to his first mission with Obi-Wan to investigate a possible initiate on the planet Kegan. They seemed to work quite well together. Before Siri and I left to meet with you, Clee had told me that Craydin and Obi-Wan had just begun to develop their training bond."  
  
"That's good," Qui-Gon said, although the ache that had suddenly began in his heart was screaming that it really was not good.  
  
"Perhaps, if you don't leave the day after you return to the temple, you can visit with Obi-Wan, and ask him how he is doing?" Adi suggested.  
  
"Perhaps," was the only answer that the older Jedi had given her. He did not think it was his place to interfere with the new relationship that the boy was building with Craydin. Perhaps he would one day meet up with the boy again so he could ask him, but he would certainly not seek the boy out.  
  
"You know Qui-Gon, you can always take another padawan," Adi said.  
  
Qui-Gon looked up at the woman beside him. He could not imagine taking anyone other than Obi-Wan as his padawan. No, he decided, if he could not take Obi-Wan, he would not take anyone else, but he said, "perhaps." It wasn't really a lie, he told himself, he may take another padawan in the distant future, but it would not be in the near future.  
  
Suddenly a light on the console in front of him began to flash, indicating that they were receiving a transmission, and breaking Qui-Gon out of his thoughts of his former padawan. Flipping some switches on the console, the holographic image of Master Yoda appeared before them.  
  
"Masters Qui-Gon, and Adi," the wise Jedi master greeted them, "grave news the council has. Trouble a Jedi team had on the planet Vardell; missing the master and padawan are. Go to Vardell to find Knight Craydin, and his padawan you will. Closest Jedi to Vardell you are."  
  
"Yes, Master Yoda," Adi said, when Qui-Gon did not answer.  
  
"Find them you will," Yoda said and then cut the transmission.  
  
Qui-Gon had an odd sick feeling in the pit of his stomach as he wondered what had happened. What ever it was he knew from the tone of Yoda's voice that it was serious. Qui-Gon set the course corrections into the computer and said, "we should reach Vardell in about 2 hours."  
  
Adi nodded, and said, "I'll go and inform Siri of our new mission," she said, as she stood and then left the cockpit to go to the cargo hold where Siri was meditating.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
Qui-Gon felt his insides twisting as he looked at what was left of the building. The east side of the building had sustained the most damage, but luckily the majority of the people who were in the building were in the west side, where the negotiations were taking place. Part of the wall and ceiling of the large conference room had collapsed, but luckily it was only a small portion of the room. Unfortunately it was the area that one of the survivors had seen Craydin Shaw, just before the bomb had gone off.  
  
As Qui-Gon used the force to move a large section of debris, Adi walked up to him and said, "I just spoke with Captain Wainan of the third army. He said that Craydin was on his way to find Obi-Wan, and had just walked out into the main hall heading towards the east wing when the bomb exploded."  
  
"Why did he need to find Obi-Wan?" Qui-Gon asked. Qui-Gon saw Adi hesitate a moment. He could not determine if she had hesitated to try and think of the right words to answer his question, or because she simply didn't want to give him the answer. Either way he was sure that it could not have been good.  
  
"He said that Craydin, had told him that Obi-Wan had gone to the fresher and he had been worried that Obi-Wan hadn't returned after fifteen minutes."  
  
"The freshers!" Qui-Gon's mind screamed. The freshers were right next to the room that the bomb had been planted in. They had been completely destroyed by fire and debris. They did not expect to find anyone in that immediate area still alive.  
  
Adi and Qui-Gon moved their search efforts to the corridors, leading to where the freshers once were. Qui-Gon hoped that Obi-Wan had been on the way back when the bomb had gone off or perhaps for some reason had wandered away from the East wing. After an hour of removing debris Qui-Gon and Adi had found a dozen Vardelli citizens in the debris, only six of those twelve had survived, and one of them, Qui-Gon knew would not survive the coming night.  
  
As they slowly made their way down the corridor, the force seemed to be guiding them towards the left side of the corridor just ahead. Quickly the two Jedi masters moved the debris in that area away, and were rewarded to find Knight Craydin lying on the floor. He was bruised and bloodied, but was alive and conscious.  
  
"Knight Craydin," Qui-Gon said kneeling beside the young man.  
  
"Obi-Wan," Craydin croaked through clenched teeth, "di- did y-you f-f- find him?"  
  
"No, we are still looking for him, but we will find him," Adi assured him.  
  
Qui-Gon placed his hand on Craydin's shoulder and began to note the knight's injuries. He had several broken and cracked ribs, a ruptured spleen, a punctured right lung, broken right femur, and clavicle, dislocated left shoulder, a deep gash on his right temple, and internal bleeding. To Qui-Gon's horror he realized that the young knight would not survive for more than a few more minutes. Qui-Gon knew that the only reason he was still breathing was because the knight was desperately holding on. Craydin knew that he would not survive.  
  
"C-can't f-feel O-Obi-Wan th-rough bond. H-he's a a g-g-good boy," Craydin said, grabbing a hold of Qui-Gon's tunic. "F-find h-him. T-tell h- im w-as g-g-glad to h-have h-him as pad-padawan. H-e th-inks h-he is n-not g-g-good nuff. H-e he's wr-wronge," Craydin said. No longer able to fight the inevitable he finally let himself go.  
  
Qui-Gon watched as the young man took one last agonizing breath, before his hand released Qui-Gon's robe and fell to the floor limp.  
  
"Master Adi, Master Qui-Gon," Siri said as she quickly ran up to them. "I was just speaking with one of the survivors. He's an army major; he said that Craydin went to find Obi-Wan in the fresh-" Siri stopped mid sentence as she looked down and saw the knight laying motionless. "Is he-"  
  
"He is one with the force now," Adi said.  
  
"Come we must continue to look for Obi-Wan," Qui-Gon said.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
After five more hours of searching the East wing of the building with the help of more Jedi knights who had started to arrive to join in the search three hours after Qui-Gon, and Adi had arrived on the planet, no more survivors had been found. And after ten hours had past since the explosion had occurred the chances of them finding anyone else still alive was slim at best.  
  
Finally Qui-Gon and Adi had cleared away the debris from the section where the freshers once were. Taking a look through the small pieces of debris littering the floor, Qui-Gon spotted a familiar object lying partially buried under a charred piece of rubble. Qui-Gon knelt down to pick up the item, and felt as if his heart and just sunk into his stomach.  
  
"Qui-Gon?" Adi asked.  
  
"It's Obi-Wan's," he answered, as he looked at the boys lightsaber that he now held in his hand. The weapon was charred on one side, and the other side had been partially melted by the intense heat of the explosion. To Qui-Gon's horror, his former padawan had indeed been in the fresher at the time of the explosion.  
  
*** * *** * ***  
  
After a total of twelve hours of searching for survivors in the building, the search was finally called off, and Qui-Gon decided that he had better contact the Jedi council and inform them of Obi-Wan's fate.  
  
"Qui-Gon," Jedi Master Mace Windu greeted him.  
  
"The search for survivors has been called off," Qui-Gon told Mace.  
  
"And Padawan Kenobi?"  
  
"We found his lightsaber, but we did not find his body."  
  
"His body," Mace said, "are you certain that the boy did not survive?"  
  
"I am not 100% certain, no. But his lightsaber was found in the section of the building next to where the bomb had detonated. The blast had melted part of the hilt of the lightsaber. And no other survivors were found in that section of the building. The few bodies that were found a few meters from his lightsaber, were determined by the medics to have died instantly. It has been just over twelve hours since the explosion first occurred, and it is unlikely even for a Jedi master to survive such conditions for that long without proper medical attention."  
  
"Yoda will be sorry to hear this, he had foreseen that Kenobi would have made a powerful and important knight," Mace said accepting the facts that Qui-Gon had presented to him.  
  
Qui-Gon slowly made his way to where Adi and Siri were sitting at a table outside of the capital building.  
  
"Did you inform the council?" Adi asked.  
  
"Yes," Qui-Gon nodded. Despite what he had told Mace, there was still one last chance that Obi-Wan could be alive, it was the only thing that Qui-Gon had to cling too, no matter how much of a long shot it was that Obi-Wan had somehow managed to get captured by the persons responsible for the bombing of the capital building. He, however, felt that he should not mention that just yet. Perhaps the persons responsible would present a ransom for Obi-Wan.  
  
"Master Adi," Siri said, her voice a near whisper, "I don't understand why we stopped looking. We didn't find Obi-Wan yet?"  
  
"Siri, some Jedi, when they die disappear leaving no trace of themselves behind other than the clothes that they wore and any weapons like a lightsaber that they may have had in the possession at the time of their death. Obi-Wan's clothes would have burnt beyond recognition, but we did find his lightsaber."  
  
"No! He could have dropped it. He could be hurt and waiting for us to find him. We should be looking for him."  
  
"Siri, it's been too long, and the entire building has already been searched, even the heating rooms in the basement section," Adi told the young girl.  
  
"No, it's not fair!" Siri yelled and ran off towards a group of trees where Qui-Gon assumed she had gone to cry.  
  
Qui-Gon was about to go after her feeling the sudden need to help the young girl grieve, when Adi stopped him by placing her hand on his forearm. "Don't, she needs some time to herself first, it's been a rough day for her."  
  
Qui-Gon nodded, and sat down in the chair that Siri had just left. "I hadn't realized that Siri and Obi-Wan had been friends."  
  
"They weren't," Adi smiled slightly, "not at first, but after the mission to Kegan, they had come to a mutual understanding. I think Siri, liked Obi-Wan a lot more than she was willing to admit."  
  
"Aw yes," Qui-Gon nodded, "the classic pretend to hate the boy you really like routine." Qui-Gon suddenly wondered if Obi-Wan had been doing the same routine, and if they would have ever admitted to one another that they could be friends, perhaps as good as friends as Obi-Wan was with Bant.  
  
Qui-Gon closed his eyes, not wanting to believe that Obi-Wan was really one with the force. He can't be really gone, can he? He could still remember when he had first met him, after a lightsaber duel against Bruck Chun. Obi-Wan was full of energy, and eager to be chosen as a padawan, although Qui-Gon had turned Obi-Wan down numerous times before finally accepting the boy as his padawan. Then they had been sent to a rescue mission to Melida/Dann, and Obi-Wan had decided to leave the Jedi order to help the young of the planet fight in the war. Qui-Gon had been hurt, and felt betrayed by Obi-Wan's actions. He now realized that he was too harsh on the boy, Obi-Wan had thought that he was doing what was right, but had made a terrible mistake and Qui-Gon had made that mistake worse for the boy. Qui-Gon could not help but feel that if he would have taken Obi- Wan back, that the boy would still be alive. He also could not forget Knight Craydin's words before he had died, that the boy had believed he wasn't good enough, haunted the Jedi Master. Could his refusal to take Obi- Wan back, had caused the boys self-doubt? 


	2. Part II

Part II  
  
"Avery," Azia said as the large man entered the room that they were keeping their unconscious prisoner in, "what are you going to do with the boy?"  
  
"Hultz just contacted me a few minutes ago. He was able to get the force suppressor, but it will be at least three hours until he gets back. I have to give Jedi boy here another dose of the drug."  
  
"But you can't," Azia pleaded, "Doctor Zul said that you can't give anyone the drug more than twice in a twenty four hour period. You've already given him four doses in 20 hours."  
  
"The boy keeps waking up every four hours. It is time for his fifth dose."  
  
"But Avery, Doctor Zul said that if you keep giving him too much in such a short period of time that the boy could have severe side effects, ranging from amnesia to the failure of his internal organs, and if that happens he will die."  
  
"And if I allow him to escape, the Vardell army will kill all of us for our involvement in the bombing of the Capital building."  
  
"I heard a national report that the boy's teacher is confirmed dead, and they presumed our prisoner is dead. They must think that he was burnt beyond recognition."  
  
"Yes I heard that too," Avery said as he began to prepare another dose of the drug.  
  
"My point is that they won't be looking for him. We could drop him off in the wallabies Calli fields. Even when he first regains consciousness he will be groggy, and weak for a while. We could leave Vardell like you said that you wanted to. By the time that the boy finds his way to the authorities we could be long gone, and he may not even remember what happened. He's just a boy, Avery."  
  
"A boy who is being trained to be a Jedi Knight," Avery growled, and then looked up into Azia's pleading brown eyes. With a sigh, he said, "fine, I guess I can let the boy regain consciousness long enough to find out what he remembers. But Azia, if he remembers me, I will have to drug him again. He should regain consciousness soon."  
  
A few minutes the boy began to stir and Azia began to wonder if she was doing the right thing or if the boy would be better off if she left Avery kill him. She suspected that another dose would kill the boy, without him ever regaining consciousness.  
  
The boy slowly opened his eyes and then blinked a few times before his eyes finally adjusted to the light.  
  
"How do you feel?" Azia asked.  
  
"Like I was just run over by a herd of tauntauns," the boy suddenly got a strange look on his face, and then said, "except I don't remember what they are. Who are you? Where am I?"  
  
"My name is Azia, you were injured in an accident, don't you remember what happened?"  
  
"No," the boy said and then looked over at Avery, who stood near the bottom of the bed. "Who is he?"  
  
"You don't remember me?" Avery asked looking shocked.  
  
"No, should I?"  
  
"Do you remember anything?" Azia asked.  
  
"I- I don't know. My head hurts."  
  
"What about Hultz? Do you remember Hultz?" Avery asked. Azia looked at the large man wondering what he was doing. The boy had never seen Hultz, and of course wouldn't remember him.  
  
"What is a Hultz?" the boy asked.  
  
"He's our brother. I'm Avery Pajan, and you are Rory Pajan."  
  
"Rory," the boy repeated, and then shook his head, Azia thought that he was going to tell Avery how wrong he was, but then the boy said, "I don't remember," he said as he drifted off to sleep again.  
  
Azia and Avery both left the room. Once in the hall Azia turned to Avery, "what do you think you were doing?"  
  
"Getting us a new recruit for our cause, Azia, I knew that the boy would be of some use to us," Avery smirked.  
  
"You can't be serious, Avery. His memory loss may only be temporary. He may wake up again and have all of his memories intact."  
  
"And that is why I will have the drug handy, while he is awake until Hultz brings the force suppressor."  
  
"And just how are you going to explain to him why you are forcing him to wear it?" Azia asked.  
  
"He is sick with a rare illness called um, Wren. And he has to wear a special medicated neck brace, that gives him his medication at regular preset intervals."  
  
"And you think he'll believe you?"  
  
"If he believes that Hultz and I are his brothers, I think he will. He's a Jedi he believes in all that happy family crap."  
  
"You are unbelievable you know that?" Azia said as she walked away from him.  
  
*** * *** * ***  
  
Qui-Gon sat in his quarters trying to meditate and clear his mind, but he couldn't stop thinking about Obi-Wan. He kept thinking that there should have been something more he could have done for him. A knock on the door to his quarters brought him temporarily out of his guilty thoughts.  
  
Qui-Gon rose to his feet and slowly walked to the door. He was only slightly surprised to see Tahl standing on the other side of the door. Tahl was a long time friend of his. It was on the mission to rescue her that Obi-Wan had mistakenly decided to leave the Jedi order, for which would later cause Qui-Gon's refusal to take the boy back as his padawan.  
  
Tahl had forgiven Obi-Wan for what had happened on Melida/Dann, where she had lost her eyesight. Qui-Gon wished that he could have forgiven the boy so easily.  
  
"Tahl," Qui-Gon said.  
  
"Qui-Gon, Adi just told me about Obi-Wan, I'm so sorry. How are you?"  
  
"I'm fine," he replied linking his arm around Tahl's and guiding her inside his quarters and to the nearby couch.  
  
"Qui-Gon, don't lie to me, I know you cared a great deal about the boy and were so hurt by Obi-Wan's mistake on Melida/Dann, that you would not be fine after such a tragic death as he had succumbed to."  
  
"I could never hide anything from you," Qui-Gon mused.  
  
"So how do you feel Qui-Gon?" Tahl asked again.  
  
"I don't know. It doesn't feel real, like he's not really gone. I wish I didn't wait so long to realize that I really did want him as my padawan. He was so young and there was so much left to teach him. On the way to a mission to Bravens III I had a dream that I was watching over Obi-Wan's knighting ceremony, from above. I wasn't there to cut his braid, but Yoda was. It was as if I had died and was looking down on him. He had grown into a fine young man. It was strange, though, he seemed so sad, and lost, even though he had just became a Knight, which was what he wanted most of all. I thought at the time that it was a vision of the future, and I realized that I did really want to be apart of his training, and of his life. I wanted to have the right to be at his Knighting ceremony even if I had to see it through the force. But I guess I was wrong, it was not a vision of the future, just a dream."  
  
"Qui-Gon, I'm sorry."  
  
"I just can't help feeling that I am somehow responsible. Like if I would have accepted him back as my padawan, that none of this would have happened, and my dream would one day come true."  
  
"Qui-Gon, you must not think that way Obi-Wan would not want you to blame yourself. The only people responsible are the terrorists who put the bomb in the capital building."  
  
"But if I-"  
  
"Qui-Gon Jinn," Tahl interrupted him, her voice was raised to let Qui-Gon know that she was serious," you are one of the greatest masters in this temple, but right now you certainly are not one of the smartest ones. You do not know the future. You do not know what would or would not have happened had you taken Obi-Wan back as your padawan. Perhaps he could have been killed sooner or you could have killed a long with the boy."  
  
Qui-Gon remained silent knowing that his long time friend was right. Even if he had taken the boy back, he still may have died, if his death was the will of the force. The realization made him feel slightly less responsible for Obi-Wan's death, but he still had an ache in his heart over the loss of his former padawan.  
  
*** * *** * ***  
  
The room that Obi-Wan was in was lit only by the light in the hall outside that seeped into the small room through a small crack on the bottom of the door.  
  
Although it was evening he did not feel tired. He had been told by Avery Pajan that he was the older mans brother as well as someone Avery called Hultz, and that his name was Rory Pajan. But he did not remember. There was no reason for them to lie to him, but the name "Rory Pajan" just did not feel right. Nothing since he woke up felt right to him, and he still felt weak and somewhat groggy.  
  
As he lay on the uncomfortable bed he began to wonder how he was injured, and why he doesn't remember anything that he should?  
  
Suddenly the door slid open with a groaning sound, and a man that Obi-Wan had never seen before walked into the room followed by Azia, and Avery. The light that poured into the room from the opened door nearly blinded Obi- Wan, and he had to blink his eyes a few times before his eyes adjusted to the light.  
  
"Rory," the man said, he was a large man just like Avery, and bore an obvious resemblance to Avery. Obi-Wan noticed that he seemed nervous.  
  
"Hultz," Obi-Wan said.  
  
"Yes," the man said, glancing at Avery and Azia before returning his gaze to Obi-Wan "do you remember me?"  
  
"No," Obi-Wan said calmly, "you look like Avery, and I assumed that you were his-our brother."  
  
"That is very perceptive Rory. You always were the smartest of the Pajan brothers," Azia said glaring at Avery. She almost seemed to be communicating with him without speaking. "So do you feel any better?"  
  
"Yes, I still feel a little weak though."  
  
"That's due to the medication, you see when you were injured your medication brace was broken, and we had to give you your medication through syringes until Hultz got you a new one. I'm afraid, though, he had to travel all the way to Pecora to get it. That is why we had to give you so much medication, plus the medication for your injuries," Avery explained.  
  
"What is a medicine brace?" Obi-Wan asked, as he played with the long braided section of his hair.  
  
Hultz held up a strange metal ring that looked large enough to fit around someone's neck. Obi-Wan immediately noticed the locking mechanism on it. "You have a very rare illness called Wren, Rory, and the brace goes around; your neck, and automatically gives you the correct doses of medication that you need," Azia said.  
  
"You nearly died when the brace was damaged. The doctor had to nearly give you an overdose of the medication to save your life," Avery sighed, "I'm afraid that the side effect of such a high dose was your memory loss."  
  
"But I for one, think it was a small price to pay to keep you alive. In time you can make new memories, and perhaps one day you will remember those lost memories," Azia said. And Obi-Wan noticed the sadness and regret in the young woman's eyes. But he got the strangest feeling from Avery and Hultz that they were deceiving him.  
  
"How was the brace damaged?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
Azia, Avery, and Hultz shared another look between one another before Hultz said, "Well you were at the capital building when it exploded, luckily for us, and you, you were in the section of the building that was the least damaged. Your medicine brace, however, did not fare as well."  
  
"Does the medication from the brace, cause me to sleep a lot, and cause memory loss?"  
  
"It regulates your medication to your body chemistry so that you can live your life without always being asleep and feeling weak. And it does not cause memory loss, because the amount of medication is regulated to the correct amounts so that you will not be given an overdose. Incase it is tampered with, or damaged; it just stops giving you your medication, and lets off an alarm. The alarm helped the rescuers find you in time to save your life," Avery said.  
  
"Why did the capital building blow up? Were a lot of people hurt?"  
  
"I don't know why, Rory. It is rumored that it was a group terrorist who wanted to make a point of how they felt about the negotiations, and the fact they had brought the Jedi into the matter," Hultz said, and received another glare from Avery.  
  
"Twenty-four people died, including a Jedi Knight, and 48 people were injured, and there are still some people missing."  
  
"Why is part of my hair in a braid?"  
  
"Because you saw a kid once who had all of his hair short, except for one small section of hair that he had braided. You liked it and decided to do the same with your hair," Azia told him.  
  
"How old am I?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
"Fifteen," Avery said.  
  
"Sixteen," Hultz said at the same time as Avery.  
  
"You're fifteen still Rory, Hultz was never very good with dates, you will be sixteen in about a month though," Avery said, and scowled at Hultz.  
  
"Close enough," Hultz mumbled, then stepped closer to Obi-Wan and held out the "medicine brace", before saying "here Rory lets get this on you before the last dose we gave you wears off and you get sick again."  
  
Rory nodded, and sat up in the bed, as he did so he suddenly felt dizzy. "Whoa kid, you need to take it easy for a couple of days," Avery said grabbing Obi-Wan's arm to steady him.  
  
"Are you ok now?" Hultz asked, as he moved closer to Obi-Wan.  
  
Suddenly a strange feeling of dread came over Obi-Wan as he looked at the strange and unfamiliar medical device. It seemed as if the feeling was telling him he should not let them put the device around his neck.  
  
Obi-Wan shook his head and leaned away from Hultz and closer towards Avery.  
  
"Rory," Hultz said, "I know you don't like to get this put on you, but I promise we'll do it as quickly as possible to get it over with, you will die without it."  
  
Obi-Wan looked at Azia with pleading eyes. She locked her silver colored eyes with his and said, "Please Rory; you, Avery, and Hultz are the closest thing to a family that I have. I don't want to lose any of you."  
  
Obi-Wan relaxed slightly; somehow he could sense that the girl did not wish him any harm, although he didn't know how he knew. Obi-Wan leaned back towards where he had been sitting before and let Hultz put the device around his neck, despite the feeling in the back of his mind that told him not to.  
  
As the device touched his neck he felt a sharp pinch against the right side of his neck, "Owe," he winced.  
  
"Sorry," Hultz said, and then Obi-Wan felt the clasp of the locking mechanism close as Hultz closed the "brace" around his neck.  
  
"There you go kid, all done already."  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
The following day Hultz and Azia had let Obi-Wan out of bed. Obi-Wan then got a look at him self in the mirror and realized that he bore no resemblance to Hultz or Avery.  
  
"Azia," Obi-Wan said leaving the fresher, and walking into the living area where Azia sat on a lumpy looking couch.  
  
Azia looked up at Obi-Wan, smiled, and then asked, "how do you feel today?"  
  
"Strange, like I'm not my self, except, I don't remember who I am. I don't know none of this makes sense," the boy said.  
  
"Do you still feel ill?"  
  
"No, I don't know how to explain it. I did notice that since Hultz put the brace on me that I feel funny."  
  
"Funny how?" Azia persisted.  
  
"Like something is missing," Obi-Wan tried to explain to her. Since Hultz had put the medical device around his neck, Obi-Wan had felt empty, like if something important to him was taken away the moment that the brace was put around his neck. He no longer got the feelings that were telling him to trust Azia, but not to trust Hultz and Avery. But he knew that he could not tell Azia that he for unknown reasons to him that he did not trust the two men who claim to be his brothers.  
  
"Azia," Obi-Wan sighed, "I was looking in the mirror, and I was just wondering why I don't look like either Avery or Hultz? They both share a remarkable resemblance, and it is obvious that they are truly brothers, but I am the exact opposite of them in height, weight, build, even our hair and eye colors are different.  
  
"Well," Azia said, and looked down at the floor as if she did not know how to answer the question, "that's because you were adopted. Your real parents couldn't afford all of your medication, and the special care that you needed when you were a baby," Azia said still looking down at the floor.  
  
"My parents didn't want me?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
"No, it wasn't that, Rory," she said looking up into Obi-Wan's eyes. "They were good friends with the Pajans, they used to visit with you a lot and bring you presents too. Three years ago the Pajans and your real family were killed in a shuttle accident. You, Avery and Hultz were here when it happened."  
  
"So I'm an orphan twice," Obi-Wan said.  
  
"I guess you could say that," Azia said, with a sad look in her eyes. "Listen Rory, I know that this is all a lot to take in all at once; finding out about your illness and your real and adopted parents deaths, all at once like this and not remembering anything. But you have to realize that your brothers have worked very hard to keep you healthy, you were happy here despite everything else.  
  
A sudden strange beeping noise interrupted their conversation. "What's that?" Obi-Wan asked, as he whirled around and his hand reflexively dropped to the left side of his waist.  
  
"It's ok, Rory, it's just the comm unit, on the wall. It's beeping to let me know that someone is sending a transmission," Azia smiled, as she turned, and walked over to the wall behind her where a device hung on the wall with a red flashing light, that flashed in time with the beeping.  
  
"Yes," Azia said, after pushing a button on the device.  
  
"Azia," Avery's voice said, "how is everything?"  
  
"Fine, how is your meeting?" Azia asked.  
  
"Fine, I need you to bring my black case next to my bed to me, I forgot it. Wake Hultz, and tell him to keep an eye on Rory."  
  
"Ok, Avery, I'll be there in a few minutes," Azia said and pushed another button on the comm unit.  
  
"Why do you have to wake Hultz? I'm old enough to take care of myself," Obi-Wan said.  
  
"I'm sure you are, but you were just sick, and we would rather that someone stay here with you to make sure that you don't have any problems with your medicine brace for a few days."  
  
Obi-Wan nodded, as Azia turned and walked into the other bedroom, where Hultz slept. A few minutes later Azia walked out of the room with a black case in her hand, and said, "I'll be back in a little while, Rory, Hultz will come out in a few minutes."  
  
Obi-Wan nodded again, as Azia walked out of the small house. He did not like nor trust Hultz or Avery, and did not want to be alone with Hultz.  
  
A few minutes later Hultz exited the bedroom, walking towards Obi-Wan. "Hello Rory," he said, "how are you feeling?"  
  
"I'm ok."  
  
"Did you remember anything yet?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Don't worry I'm sure that your memories will return soon enough. Did you eat? I'm starving."  
  
"Yes," Obi-Wan said.  
  
"Are you hungry again, you really need to eat more you are really thin, just like mom."  
  
"Mom?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
"Yes, our mother, you are familiar with the word aren't you?"  
  
"Yes, I just don't remember her," Obi-Wan said.  
  
"I'm sorry. You actually look just like her. Avery and I look just like dad. She was skinny just like you, with your same colored hair and eyes, and she was also short. She was the best mom too."  
  
"Where is she?" Obi-Wan asked, trying to hide the anger that surged through him now that he knew that someone was lying to him.  
  
"She died three years ago in a shuttle accident with dad, and Azia's parents."  
  
Obi-Wan wanted to hit him, and demand to know why they were lying to him about his parents, but he knew that the larger man would most likely kill him if he did. He decided that he had to try and figure out why they were lying to him, and not let them know that he knows. Perhaps he could find a way to find out who he really is. 


	3. Part III

Part III  
  
Qui-Gon sat on the floor of his quarters meditating. It had been three weeks since Obi-Wan was officially declared dead. He had attended the services that were held for Craydin Shaw and Obi-Wan Kenobi, but still felt as if something was not right about what happened on Vardell.  
  
The sound of the door chime brought Qui-Gon out of his meditation. He was surprised to see Clee Rhara standing on the other side of the door.  
  
"Clee," Qui-Gon said, "it is nice to see you."  
  
"It is always good to see you as well Qui-Gon," Clee said.  
  
"Please come inside," Qui-Gon said, wondering what the woman wanted. He was familiar with Clee, and would talk to her on occasion if they happened to be in the same room together, or on a mission, but he did not consider her one of his close friends. He did not think that she had ever been in his quarters before.  
  
"I was cleaning out Craydin and Obi-Wan's quarters. I finally worked up enough courage to do it. Isn't it funny how easy it is to fight in battles where the odds are against us, but so hard to clean out the quarters of a lost Knight and padawan?"  
  
Qui-Gon nodded, and motioned for the Jedi Master to sit on the near by couch with him.  
  
"I thought you may want this back," Clee said, as she pulled a river stone out of her robe pocket. It was the stone that Qui-Gon had given Obi-Wan for his thirteenth birthday.  
  
The stone, that Obi-Wan had discovered was force sensitive, had helped to save the boy from loosing his memories, while he was subjected to a memory purge while on the planet Phindar.  
  
"I can't believe that he kept it," Qui-Gon said as he took the stone from Clee's open palm. Gently he ran his thumb over the surface of the river stone.  
  
"Of course he kept it. He kept it on his desk in his bedroom," Clee smiled slightly and continued, "He told me that he kept it there so that he could remember that he was once the student of the legendary Qui-Gon Jinn, and to remind him that there are consequences to his actions, so that when faced with tough decisions he should consider the consequences first."  
  
Qui-Gon was surprised, and glad that the ordeal on Melida/Dann and afterwards had taught him a lesson. He mused that it had taught himself the very same lesson, but, unfortunately his lesson had been learned too late.  
  
"Adi, told me what you had said in the shuttle about taking Obi-Wan back as your apprentice if he did not get picked by anyone else," Clee said, "you know Tahl, Adi, Craydin, and I knew that you would come back to your senses one day, and realize that you and Obi-Wan belonged together. That is why Craydin was only Obi-Wan's temporary master. Obi-Wan had thought that it was due to his probation but it was actually because we knew that you would come to your senses eventually. The council wasn't so sure though and told Craydin, that after six months that Obi-Wan would stay as Craydin's apprentice on a more permanent basis incase you did not come to your senses."  
  
Qui-Gon was at a loss for words. He could not believe it; if he had returned to the temple sooner he would have been able to take Obi-Wan back and perhaps he would still be alive. He could not get the thought that he could have prevented out of his mind.  
  
"Are you going to go back to Vardell to attend the memorial services that they are going to have for the victims that had died in the bombing?"  
  
"I don't think so," Qui-Gon said. "It is for the people closest to the victims, like you who were like a father to Craydin, and Master Yoda who thought very highly of Obi-Wan."  
  
"Qui-Gon you were his master first; and Obi-Wan cared for you a great deal, even though you were not together anymore. If it wasn't true, he would not have kept the river stone. And I suspect that you cared a great deal for him, even though I know you would never admit it. Yoda asked me to tell you that you should go to the service tomorrow, and I agree with him."  
  
"I'll think about it," Qui-Gon said.  
  
"The shuttle will leave at sunrise tomorrow morning, if you are going be there," Clee said, as she stood up to leave Qui-Gon's quarters. "Good bye Qui-Gon, I hope you will join us tomorrow," she said before she left his quarters.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
The lightsaber was swung at his head, and he instinctively ducked out of the way, and then swung his lightsaber at his opponent. His opponent swung his weapon and easily blocked Obi-Wan's. Then his opponent swung lightsaber at Obi-Wan's feet, Obi-Wan leaped over the weapon and landed behind his opponent. Obi-Wan then swung his weapon and touched the energy blade of the lightsaber to his opponent's neck as he whirled around; ending the match.  
  
A strange elf like being, using a walking stick hobbled towards them. "Good," he said, "fought well you have."  
  
Both opponents deactivated their weapons.  
  
"Rory, Rory wake up," Azia's words woke Obi-Wan out of his sleep, and he immediately opened his eyes.  
  
"W-what is going on?" Obi-Wan asked, rubbing his eyes.  
  
"Nothing it's just time for you to wake up if you would like to eat breakfast. I'm not going to feed you whenever you feel like waking up."  
  
"Ok," Obi-Wan said, sitting up. "I'll be right out. Are Avery and Hultz here?"  
  
"No, they went to the memorial services for the victims of the bombing."  
  
"The bombing that I was in?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
"Yes. Hurry and get dressed, breakfast will be ready in a few minutes," Azia said, and left the room, closing the door behind her.  
  
Obi-Wan quickly got dressed; he could feel his anger growing. He was tired of the lies. He had been stuck in the house for three weeks, and only let out a few times, but always with Azia, Avery or Hultz. He had started having strange dreams like the one that Azia had just woke him up from, two weeks ago. He felt sure that they were memories, but he refused to tell anyone.  
  
In the dreams he had always fought with a strange handheld weapon that he found out from the local library that it was called a lightsaber. It was the weapon of Jedi Knights. He wondered if he was the Jedi student that was presumed dead from the explosion.  
  
He remembered a news broadcast that he had heard a few days ago that mentioned the memorial services. The broadcast had stated that some Jedi Knights that were involved with the rescue mission, and were close to the Jedi Knight and student who had died in the explosion.  
  
In his dreams, Obi-Wan had spoken with the elf like being about a Master visiting the temple to choose a padawan learner, a Master Qui-Gon Jinn. The name seemed very familiar to Obi-Wan for some reason, although why he did not know.  
  
Obi-Wan decided as he dressed that he needed to find a way to contact the Jedi and find out if they know who he is. If he is the Padawan that they think is dead, then they should recognize him, or if he is a Jedi they should know him. Perhaps he could ask to speak with Qui-Gon Jinn.  
  
After he finished changing into the worn out clothes that were a size or two too big for him, Obi-Wan went out to the small kitchen, and sat down at the table trying to think of a way to get Azia out of the house for a few minutes so he could contact the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.  
  
"You're awful quiet, Rory," Azia said.  
  
"I'm just thinking," Obi-Wan said.  
  
"About anything in particular?"  
  
"I was just wondering why Avery and Hultz didn't take me to the memorial service. I'm more than healed enough to attend there are people who were injured worse than I was who will be there."  
  
"You know that Avery is very over protective of you," Azia replied as she took a bite of her breakfast.  
  
"But why, I'm not a baby. I'm old enough to take care of myself; I don't need constant supervision, but that what you three have done to me since I woke up three weeks ago. What are you afraid of? I can't run away, I wouldn't know where to go. There is plenty of food here, if I'm hungry, and if I need help I could use the comm unit to contact one of you."  
  
"Obi-Wan we are just worried about you. We don't think that you are a baby."  
  
"Stop lying to me! You've been lying to me since I woke up!"  
  
The color drained from Azia's face as Obi-Wan's words sunk in. "W-what are you talking about w-we haven't been lying to you," she stammered, as she stood up from the table. She suddenly seemed very anxious.  
  
"Yes, you have!" Obi-Wan told her, also standing up. He knew that he should just keep quiet, but his mouth seemed to work ahead of his reasoning. "You said that I was adopted, but Hultz said that I don't resemble him or Avery because I look like our mother. And I've been remembering things too. I have been dreaming about fighting other kids with lightsabers. They are the weapons of the Jedi. Why would I remember fighting with a lightsaber? I read about the Jedi in the library that Hultz took me to. And I dreamt that a small Jedi Master told me about a Jedi Master named Qui-Gon Jinn who would come to the temple to choose a padawan. I was at the Jedi temple on Coruscant. I'm a Jedi aren't I? And the reason that Avery and Hultz didn't want me to go to the memorial is because the Jedi that will be there may recognize me. And I did not find any information about an illness called Wren, or any other illness that has the symptoms that would require a medicine brace worn around the neck."  
  
"You have a wild imagination, Rory. Your illness is only new and not much is known yet about it."  
  
"Stop calling me Rory!" Obi-wan screamed, "In my dreams they called me Obi- Wan. And if the illness is so new, then why did you tell me that I've had it since I was a baby. Sixteen years is more than enough time to get the illness added to the library."  
  
Azia slowly backed towards a closet a few feet behind her, but Obi-Wan followed her. "You are letting you imagination get the best of you Rory. You are not a Jedi. You were always fascinated by the Jedi, and always wanted to be a Jedi Knight, but it was just a fantasy."  
  
"No, I am sick of your lies. Even if I am not a Jedi, I know I am not Rory Pajan," Obi-Wan told her as she backed into the closet. She quickly opened the closet door and pulled out the syringe that was filled with the medication they had given Obi-Wan before Hultz brought the neck brace.  
  
"I'm not sick now, Azia, what are you doing with that?" Obi-Wan asked when she turned to face him holding the "medication".  
  
"Yes, you are. It is obvious that you are ill and that your medicine brace is not working properly. Hallucinations are one of the earliest symptoms. Now let me give you this medication," she said taking a step towards Obi- Wan.  
  
"No. You've been lying about everything else why would you tell the truth now?"  
  
Azia reached out with her left hand to grab Obi-Wan's arm, but Obi-Wan grabbed her arm that held the syringe and easily got it out of her hand. He then grabbed her with his left arm around her neck and held the syringe to her arm. "So Azia," Obi-Wan said, "what will happen to you if I inject this into you?"  
  
"You'll make me very sick, be-because I don't need the medication."  
  
"Good," Obi-Wan said, pressing the point of the syringe into her arm.  
  
"NO, please you can't do this. I'll tell you what ever you want to know, just let me go."  
  
Obi-Wan laughed, "you think I'm going to believe you?" he adjusted his hold of Azia, and put the syringe down on a shelf, and then grabbed some rope from the closet. After pulling Azia to a chair at the other side of the room, Obi-Wan forced her to sit down and then began to tie her to the chair as tightly as he could. He also found some strong tape in the closet, which he then brought over to Azia.  
  
"Rory please, I'll tell you everything. You are a Jedi; you are the student of the Jedi Master you spoke of, Qui-Gon Jinn. He thinks that you are-" before she could say anything else Obi-Wan put the tape tightly over her mouth, and then walked to the comm unit on the wall.  
  
Ignoring the mumbling noises coming from Azia, Obi-Wan took advantage of the information that he had learned of at the library to contact the Jedi temple on Coruscant.  
  
"Jedi Temple, Julanna speaking how may I direct you call?"  
  
"I-I don't know," Obi-Wan said.  
  
"Do you have a problem that you need assistance with? Do you need to speak with a Jedi Knight?" the woman's voice asked.  
  
"Y-yes, I need to speak with Qui-Gon Jinn he is my master."  
  
"Who is this?"  
  
"Obi-Wan," he said.  
  
"Hold please." Julanna said.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
Master Mace Windu sat silently on the floor of his quarters meditating, when he heard the sudden sound of his comm unit beginning to beep on his desk. With a sigh, Mace rose to his feet and slowly walked over to his desk. It was the third time in an hour that his meditation had been interrupted by the comm unit.  
  
"Julanna, I though I asked you to transfer all transmissions to Plo Koon?" Mace said after activating the comm unit.  
  
"Yes, Master Mace, but I thought you may want to know that I have a boy on hold who claims to be the padawan of Master Qui-Gon Jinn. I believe that he is playing a trick."  
  
"Did he give you his name?" Mace asked trying to hide the irritation from his voice.  
  
"Yes, he said his name was Obi-Wan. Do you want me to transfer the transmission to Master Plo Koon?"  
  
"No, please transfer the call here,"  
  
"I'm connecting you now, Master Mace," Julanna said.  
  
When a light began to flash on the comm unit a moment later, the Jedi Master began to speak "this is Master Mace Windu, who am I speaking with?"  
  
"Obi-Wan. Where is Master Qui-Gon Jinn?" A young nervous sounding voice said over the comm unit.  
  
"What do you want with him?" Mace asked, his voice sounded stern even to his own ears. He hated to be interrupted from his meditation; especially for a child's prank.  
  
"I-he. He's my master isn't he?" the boy asked.  
  
"Listen son, I don't know who you are, but Master Qui-Gon does not have a padawan. Please do not contact the temple again, or I will have the local authorities arrest you-"  
  
"Please wait sir. I thought he was my master. I heard his name mentioned in a dream and they were calling me Obi-Wan. I thought. . ." the boys voice trailed off, and Mace was confused by the boys words. Usually a prank caller would have ended the transmission immediately after a threat of being arrested.  
  
"In your dreams?" Mace asked.  
  
"Y-yes sir. I don't remember who I am. These people told me that my name was Rory Pajan, but everything they told me doesn't feel right, and then I started having dreams that I thought were memories of dueling with the weapon that you call a lightsaber. I looked up the Jedi in the local library. The information that I read in the library told me that Jedi padawans wear a section of their hair braided, by their right ear, and my hair is braided in the same spot, so I thought that I might be a Jedi. A little green guy with pointy ears told me in my dream that Master Qui-Gon Jinn was coming to the temple to choose a padawan. And in other dreams other kids called me Obi-Wan. I'm sorry for troubling you sir, but I just wanted to find out who I am," the boy said almost without taking a breath.  
  
"Where are you? And how did you lose your memory?" Mace asked suddenly, as his brain finally registered what the boy had told him.  
  
"I'm in Schoala City on the planet Vardell. The people who I was staying with told me that I was caught in the explosion of the Vardell capital building. They said that I was their brother, and that they had to give me more medication than normal for an illness that I have because the medicine brace I wore on my neck was damaged. They told me that the high dose they gave me caused my memory loss."  
  
"And you don't believe them?" Mace asked as he wondered if he was really talking to Obi-Wan Kenobi.  
  
"No. Hultz told me that I didn't look like him or Avery because I looked like their mother, but Azia told me it was because I was adopted. And since I woke up here I noticed other inconsistencies."  
  
"I see. And Hultz, Avery and Azia are the people who took you?" Mace said.  
  
"Yes. Sir, Will you help me?" the boy asked, sounding desperate. Mace wished that the boy had a holo transmitter on his comm unit so he could see what the boy looked like.  
  
"I will try. I will contact the Jedi that are at the memorial for the victims of the explosion. I need you to tell me where you are, so I can send the Jedi to come and speak with you."  
  
"B-but, if Avery and Hultz come back they will hurt me. I tied Azia to a chair, but they are too big, and there are no weapons here. I am going to go to the memorial, and find the Jedi; all I have to do is not let Hultz and Avery see me. And there will be a lot of other people around so that they won't hurt me."  
  
"They are at the memorial service?" Mace asked.  
  
"Yes. I have to go now, sir. They could come back anytime."  
  
"Alright, I'll contact the Jedi on Vardell. A couple of them are speaking on the behalf of the Jedi Knight and padawan that were lost in the explosion, go to the back of the stage and tell security that you are there to see Master Qui-Gon Jinn and Master Yoda. I'll call ahead, and let them know that you will be coming, and that they should inform security that you are expected and will ask for Qui-Gon Jinn and Master Yoda," Mace said.  
  
"Ok," the boy said.  
  
"And May the force be with you," Mace told him.  
  
There was a moment's hesitation before the boy said "thank you," and closed the transmission. Mace then immediately contacted Qui-Gon and Yoda.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
After walking out of the house that he had lived I n for two weeks, Obi-Wan finally exited the small house alone, without the presence of Azia or his "brothers". As he started to walk down the street that was not as busy as the day that Hultz had taken him to the library, he realized that he had no idea where to go, or how to get to the memorial service. He stopped walking and looked around. There were no signs or any other indications of where he should go.  
  
"Young man," an old woman with silver hair, and a walking cane said, "you look confused, do you need some help?"  
  
Obi-Wan could not stop the smile that formed on his lips, at the woman's words. "Yes ma'am, I need to meet my family at the memorial services today, but I must have gotten on the wrong transport and ended up here. I don't know how to get there from here. If you could give me directions I would be grateful."  
  
"I can do better than that young man, the woman said, I am waiting for my son to pick me up to go to the service myself, I shall give you a lift."  
  
"Thank you, so much," Obi-Wan smiled.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
"Stupid boy," Azia muttered as she easily got the ropes that held her to the chair loosened enough to free her self. As soon as she off the chair she immediately ripped the tape off of her mouth ignoring the slight pain it caused, and ran to the comm unit on the other side of the room.  
  
"Avery," Azia said after she typed a few buttons on the unit's key pad.  
  
"Azia, is something wrong?" Avery's voice asked.  
  
"Yes, Jedi boy is gone. And he knows that we lied to him. He contacted the Jedi, and is on his way to the memorial services to meet with the Jedi that are there. He's not sure who he is exactly, but if the other Jedi see him, they will recognize him."  
  
"We'll find him first, Azia," Avery said.  
  
Azia closed her eyes after his comment, knowing what the man would do to the boy if he found him first, but she had to warn them that there may be trouble. She could only hope that the Jedi found the boy first.  
  
"Where is he supposed to meet the Jedi?" Avery asked.  
  
Again she closed her eyes, she had hoped that he would not ask her that, because she could not lie to the man who had taken care of her after her parents were killed. He was like the older brother that she never had, and she promised that she would not lie to him. "He is supposed to meet them back stage and tell security that he is there to see two of the Jedi, so that they know that it is him. I'm sure that if the Jedi see him though, they'll recognize him without needing him to tell security who he's there to see."  
  
"Thank you Azia," Avery said, "I want you to go to the warehouse, and wait for us. If we are not there in two hours I want you to take the freighter and get off the planet."  
  
"But what about you and Hultz?" Azia asked wide-eyed.  
  
"We'll be fine, we'll find a transport, and contact you on the freighters comm unit. Now go before that boy, or the Jedi send the local authorities after you."  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
Qui-Gon could not believe what he had just heard. Obi-Wan might still be alive. He tried not to let himself get his hopes up, but he could not stop the hope that was rising inside of him.  
  
Since Mace Windu had told him and Yoda about the boy that had contacted him, he had been watching the entrance to the back stage area for any sign of Obi-Wan. Qui-Gon was so caught up in his thoughts of his former apprentice, that he did not sense Adi Gallia's approach.  
  
"Qui-Gon," she began, "are you ok? Yoda told me about Master Mace's transmission."  
  
"Yes, I'm fine," Qui-Gon replied still looking out over the crowd of people nearest the backstage entrance.  
  
"I hope that Mace is right," Adi said, as she too looked out over the crowd for a certain familiar face. Suddenly Qui-Gon noticed a movement near one of the security guards, and focused his attention on the movement.  
  
He saw a boy about Obi-Wan's age with the same color hair approaching a security officer. The boys head was lowered and Qui-Gon could not get a good look at the boys face.  
  
He felt his heart begin to race as he realized that this boy may be Obi- Wan. But as the boy lifted his head to speak with the security officer Qui- Gon got a good look at the boy's face. It was not Obi-Wan.  
  
"Qui-Gon," Adi said from behind him. Qui-Gon turned to tell her that the boy talking to the security officer was not Obi-Wan, but noticed that her attention was focused on something else further away from the entrance to the backstage area.  
  
Qui-Gon turned to look into the crowd in the area that Adi was looking at, and gasped before saying, "Obi-Wan." 


	4. Part IV

Part IV  
  
  
  
Obi-Wan Kenobi said goodbye to the old woman and her son, who were kind enough to give him a ride to the memorial service, and turned towards the stage.  
  
"Obi-Wan wait," the woman said, "would you like us to stay with you until you find your family? There is a lot of people here."  
  
"No, thank you. I'm supposed to meet them back stage they're expecting me. I'll be fine, don't worry," the boy told them wishing he could believe it himself.  
  
"Young man, I am the mother of five children and twelve grandchildren, worrying is what I do best."  
  
Obi-Wan smiled at the old woman, and decided that he hoped that his mother was as kind and humorous as this woman.  
  
"Take care of yourself Obi-Wan," the woman's son Wol said.  
  
"I will, and thanks again for the ride," Obi-Wan said and turned back towards the stage and started to slowly walked towards it.  
  
On the stage a woman sang a beautiful song about a lonely mans journey through life. If he had not been anxious to find the Jedi, before he ran into Hultz or Avery, he would have enjoyed listening to the beautiful song.  
  
As he made his way to the stage, Obi-Wan looked back and forth through the crowd, to watch for any sign of Avery or Hultz. He could not help but feel as if he should have taken the Jedi Master that he had spoken to over the comm Unit's advice and let the Jedi come to him.  
  
Looking straight ahead of him he could see the entryway to the backstage area, and the security officers that stood near the entrance. On opposite side of the stage from the security officers, Obi-Wan saw a tall man with a beard and long hair watching him intently. A woman with dark skin and dark hair stood just behind him, and was also looking at him. There was something very familiar about the both of them, although the man seemed even more familiar to him.  
  
Obi-Wan tried to quicken his pace, when he felt a hand tightly grab a hold of his shoulder, preventing him from moving forward. As he turned around to see who was behind him he felt something hard jabbed into his back, and he stiffened, he knew that it was most likely the barrel of a blaster.  
  
"Hello, Jedi boy, we've been expecting you," Avery's unmistakable voice said. "Now you are going to walk with us towards the Northern section of this building where it is still under construction. And if you cause any trouble at all, Hultz will kill your Jedi friend. I believe I heard her master call her Siri. Hultz and Siri are waiting for us in the Northern section."  
  
"I don't remember anyone named Siri," Obi-Wan said glancing over at the man and woman who were still watching him.  
  
"Do you want to risk us killing her whether you did know her or not?" Avery asked, pushing the blaster harder into his back. Obi-Wan knew that his back would be bruised, if he survived this.  
  
"Ok lets go," Obi-Wan said letting the larger man lead him away from the stage and the waiting Jedi. Obi-Wan could only hope that the man and woman that were watching him were Jedi Knights, who had recognized him and would come and help him.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
Siri Tachi stood near the stage watching the beautiful woman sing about the journey of a lonely mans life, and felt a lump begin to form in her throat as she realized that the man that the song described could be a Jedi Knight and that Obi-Wan would never get the chance to be that man. She wondered why she never told him that she did not hate him like she had let him think she had.  
  
She had been with her master when Yoda informed them that Master Mace, had contacted them and told them that a boy, that might be Obi-Wan had contacted him claiming to have amnesia, and not know who he is. He said that the boy was having dreams that he thought may be memories of being a Jedi, and mentioned having a padawan braid.  
  
She had sensed her master's hope after hearing the news, but Siri refused to believe that he may be alive only to find out that it was some sick joke, that was being played on her.  
  
She had refused to believe that he was dead at first after they were unable to find his body, and even though she knew that some Jedi disappear without leaving a body behind when they die, she still could not bring herself to believe it. And when she had finally accepted that she would never see him again, now she finds out that there may be a chance that she could see him again and tell him all of the things that she should have said before. But she refused to raise her hopes enough to believe it.  
  
As Siri listened to the song, she quickly blinked back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. She had been so wrapped up in her thoughts of Obi-Wan, that she had not sensed the approaching danger until it was too late, and a large hand suddenly covered her mouth and a blaster was roughly jabbed into her lower back.  
  
"If you want to see Kenobi alive and un hurt, you won't try any of your Jedi tricks."  
  
Siri nodded her head, and allowed the unknown man to lead her away from the stage, with the blaster still dug into her back. She took a deep breath and used the padawan training bond to contact her master.  
  
"Master Adi," she began, "a man is leading me away from the stage towards the part of the building that is still under construction, and told me that if I try anything that they would hurt Obi-Wan."  
  
"We are on our way, Siri don't try to fight him right now," her master told her over the bond.  
  
"I won't Master," Siri said, hoping that contacting Master Adi was the right thing to do.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
Qui-Gon's heart began to race as he looked at his former apprentice for the first time in over six months. The boy looked taller than he last remembered, but other than that looked the same. He wore civilian clothing, and had a force suppressor around his neck. Qui-Gon could see the padawan braid hanging over his right shoulder. And allowed the relief to wash over him at the sight of the boy.  
  
As he and Adi watched Obi-Wan make his way towards the security officers, the boy's eyes suddenly met his, and he suddenly felt uncomfortable as the boy's eyes lingered on him and Adi.  
  
Qui-Gon was about to walk to the security officers to meet his former padawan there, when suddenly he saw a large man put a hand on the boys shoulder. He saw Obi-Wan stiffen, and then the man began to speak to him. They spoke for a few seconds before the man began to lead Obi-Wan away in the other direction.  
  
Qui-Gon started to leave to follow Obi-Wan when he noticed that Adi's attention was elsewhere. Then she suddenly looked at Qui-Gon and told him that her padawan had just contacted her through their bond.  
  
Qui-Gon and Adi immediately headed towards the northern section of the building after Obi-Wan and Siri.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
Siri stood with her hands chained to the back of a pole in the abandoned section of the Cities musical center that was under construction and therefore without the crowds of people that filled the rest of the building. The man that had forced her here and chained her arms to the pole sat on a nearby chair alternating looking from her to the entryway across the room. She sensed the man's anxiety and wondered what he was afraid of as she tried to pick the lock to the chains that bound her hands.  
  
But she stopped her attempt to free herself when she heard a noise approaching them. At the entry way, a man just as large as the man who had brought her here, walked through, his arm rested on the shoulder of the one person that Siri thought she would never see again.  
  
At first she thought it was some sort of trick, and that it was just a boy made to look like Obi-Wan, but as they came closer so could see the boys features more clearly.  
  
"Obi-Wan," she said. Her words caused the boy to look up into her eyes, and she saw no recognition in his beautiful eyes that seemed to change colors. She noticed that he wore civilian clothes, but still had his padawan braid. He also wore a force suppressor around his neck. And was glad that he did not remember who he was, because she knew that she would not be able to bear to be unable to access the force.  
  
"You know me?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
"Of course she knows you, Jedi boy," Avery said as he roughly pushed him to the ground. Obi-Wan's knee cracked off of the hard floor as he landed, and he gasped and covered his right knee with his hand. Siri could see the pain in his eyes as he looked back up at the man who had pushed him.  
  
Siri began to use the force again to unlock the chains around her hands and the pole, before Avery said, "I would like to thank you little girl, for your assistance in getting Jedi boy to come here with me," Avery aimed his blaster at Obi-Wan, and said, "now you can watch him die for real."  
  
"No!" Siri screamed, as she finally unlocked the chains, and they clattered to the ground noisily drawing the man's attention away from Obi-Wan.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
Obi-Wan could feel his heart begin to race as he stared at the barrel of the blaster that Avery held. At least he would know who he was before he died. He was Obi-Wan Kenobi, the Jedi padawan that was thought dead as a result of the explosion.  
  
Suddenly he heard the girl scream "No!" as the chains that held her to the pole clattered to the ground, she took a step away from the pole, and Avery turned his blaster to aim at the girl.  
  
"No," Obi-Wan whispered, quickly getting to his feet and ignoring the pain that the movement caused him. Obi-Wan leaped forward grabbing a hold of Avery's arm as the blaster went off, but to Obi-Wan's relief the girl had quickly got her lightsaber, and deflected the bolt.  
  
The deflected bolt hit Hultz in the stomach. The large man cried out before falling to the ground.  
  
As Obi-Wan still struggled with Avery he heard footsteps running towards him and the same hissing sound that the girls lightsaber had made when she had ignited it.  
  
"You fool," Avery said turning the weapon back towards Obi-Wan.  
  
"Drop your weapon," a man's voice ordered from behind.  
  
"Siri, are you alright?" A woman's voice asked. Out of the corner of his eye Obi-Wan could see the girl nod her head.  
  
"No," Avery said, as he wrapped his arm around Obi-Wan's neck, and pressed his blaster to the boy's head. He forced Obi-Wan to stand and said, "if you try anything at all I will kill him." As they stood Obi-Wan got a look and the man and woman that the voices he had heard belonged to. They were the man and woman who were watching him from the other side of the stage. They both held ignited lightsabers ready for anything. Obi-Wan's eyes were drawn to the man with the long hair and beard. He knew this man somehow, he was sure of it.  
  
"You can't run forever," the bearded man said to Avery.  
  
"But I can get away from here. If you try anything the boy will be dead before you can prevent it from happening. The question here is folks, would three Jedi who could easy overpower the likes of me risk trying anything, and most likely getting Jedi boy here killed?"  
  
"Let the boy walk away and you won't be hurt," the man with the beard said.  
  
"Do you think I am stupid?" Avery asked. Obi-Wan bit his tongue to stop from answering the question.  
  
"No," the woman said.  
  
"I am a Vardelli, we are not weak minded people that you can force us to do what you want us to with your Jedi mind tricks," to illustrate his point Avery hit Obi-Wan with the butt of the blaster in the stomach causing the boy to double over in pain as much as Avery who still had his arm around his neck would allow him to move. "If you try anything like that again, I will kill him."  
  
Obi-Wan desperately tried to catch his breath as Avery forced him to walk forward towards Hultz who sat with his back against the wall. "Can you get up?" Avery asked glancing behind him to make sure that the Jedi were not doing anything.  
  
"Yeah," Hultz said as he slowly got to his feet.  
  
Obi-Wan knew that the two Jedi Masters and the female padawan were behind them as Avery led him and Hultz to the back of the building where no one else was around. Up ahead of them he could see a door that he assumed leaded outside of the building. He assumed that it was most likely Avery's escape route, and wondered if the man had seen him in the crowds of people, or if he somehow knew where Obi-Wan was going to be at. Suddenly he remembered Azia; if she had somehow gotten herself untied she may have contacted Avery. He should have contacted the local authorities to go and get Azia.  
  
Obi-Wan silently berated him self, as they reached the door. Hultz hit the control button to open the door, causing the large doors to slide open. Avery pulled Obi-Wan through the door way behind Hultz. After punching the control to close the doors, Avery moved the blaster away from Obi-Wan and blasted the control panel, and then moved it back to Obi-Wan's head.  
  
Obi-Wan was sure that the Jedi would be able to get through the door; but he knew that Avery and Hultz now had the opportunity they needed to escape.  
  
A freighter sat on the ground a few meters in front of them. The engines were running and the ramp was down. "Hultz, get in the ship," Avery ordered the injured man, whose pace had begun to slow. Hultz nodded and slowly climbed up the ramp, as a screeching sound could be heard behind them.  
  
Avery turned around, and Obi-Wan could see the Jedi Knights cutting through the door with their lightsabers. Avery then quickly pulled Obi-Wan up the ramp with him. They reached the top of the ramp as the Jedi finally got through the doors. Avery suddenly pushed Obi-wan, and he rolled down the ramp. Obi-Wan looked up at Avery in time to see him aim the blaster at him and pull the trigger. 


	5. Part V

Part V  
  
  
  
"Obi-Wan!" Qui-Gon yelled as he ran towards the boy. His heart began to pound in his chest as if someone was beating on a drum. He had just watched the man violently push the boy down the ramp and then shoot him with his blaster. He couldn't lose the boy now after he had just found him alive.  
  
It seemed to take longer than it should have, to run the short distance that separated the Jedi Master from his former padawan  
  
Qui-Gon, Adi, and Siri reached the boy as the small freighter began to lift off. The boy's hand, which was still on the end of the ramp, fell limply to the ground. The boy looked up at Qui-Gon with pain filled eyes.  
  
Qui-Gon knelt down beside the boy, checking over the wound. To his relief it was not bad; the boy had been hit on his right shoulder. "Obi-Wan," he said.  
  
"I know you don't I?" the boy asked.  
  
"Yes, you do, I am Qui-Gon Jinn. Your wound is not bad, but we need to get you to the healers." Qui-Gon said as he turned towards Adi Gallia who was already using her comlink to call for help. Obi-Wan nodded, and looked up at Siri who stood near Qui-Gon.  
  
"It hurts," Obi-Wan said.  
  
"The healers are on the way, and the authorities are on alert to find Obi's kidnappers," Adi told them after she switched off the comlink.  
  
"I dreamt about you, I think it was a memory."  
  
"Let me get this off of you," Qui-Gon said, reaching for the device around the boys neck. He was surprised when the boy stiffened.  
  
"Will I get sick?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
"Sick, what do you mean?" Siri asked.  
  
"Avery and Hultz told me that I am sick and that I need this medical brace to regulate my medication. Was that a lie too?" Obi-Wan looked from Siri to Qui-Gon.  
  
"Yes, Obi-Wan. This is a force suppressor, it is used to prevent you from having access to the force."  
  
"The force, I read about that in the library. If they used it to block out the force then does that mean that I am a Jedi?"  
  
Qui-Gon smiled slightly at the innocent question and said, "yes, you are a Jedi Padawan."  
  
"I was right about the braid then," Obi-Wan mumbled.  
  
"Can I take this off of you now?" Qui-Gon asked.  
  
The boy nodded, but still looked scared. Qui-Gon could not believe how much the boy had been lied to. Qui-Gon gently unlocked the clasp of the device and removed it from Obi-Wan's neck.  
  
Obi-Wan immediately used his left hand to feel his neck that he had not been able to touch in weeks. "I feel different," he said, "somehow it feels like I'm whole now, except I can't remember who I am."  
  
"Obi-Wan, I'm going to use the force to accelerate your healing, I'm going to need to touch your arm," Qui-Gon said.  
  
"Ok," Obi-Wan said.  
  
Qui-Gon gently reached out and put his hands on the boys arm, below his injured shoulder, and closed his eyes.  
  
"Obi-Wan, you gave everyone a real scare, we thought that you were really dead," Siri told him. "Bant, Reeft, and Garen will be very glad that you are still alive."  
  
"Who are they?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
"They are your best friends at the temple. They were very upset when they thought you were dead."  
  
"What about you, are you my friend too?"  
  
"Yes, we were not as close as you and the others, but yes I consider you a friend," the girl said. Qui-Gon smiled remembering Adi's comment about Siri liking Obi-Wan but not wanting to admit it to him.  
  
A group of security officers, and healers quickly approached them, led by, Yoda and Clee Rhara. Yoda who sat on Clee's shoulder said, "Good to see you alive it is, padawan Kenobi."  
  
"You're the little green guy with the pointy ears that I talked to in my dream," Obi-Wan said.  
  
"Hmph, Master Yoda, I am."  
  
Qui-Gon smiled as his former apprentice blushed, after realizing that he had said what he was thinking out loud to the "little green guy".  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
Qui-Gon paced impatiently through the waiting room as he waited to find out about Obi-Wan.  
  
"Qui-Gon, you are going to wear a hole in the carpeting," Clee commented.  
  
"He's going to be alright Qui-Gon, it wasn't a serious wound," Adi said. Clee and Adi sat on two chairs near the doors of the waiting room, while Siri slept on the couch on the other side of the room, and Yoda meditated on the floor in the middle of the room.  
  
"I know, I just can't help it," Qui-Gon said, as he stopped his pacing to look at them. Suddenly the door to the waiting room slid open, and one of the healers walked in.  
  
"How is he?" Qui-Gon immediately asked the healer.  
  
"His shoulder wound was not very bad, and his knee was bruised, but after being put in the bacta tanks, he is healing nicely. We did find traces of a sedative called Letill in his blood stream. Obi-Wan told us that his kidnappers had given him the drug three weeks ago," the healer sighed before continuing. "In order for the drug to still be in his system that long after being given the drug it would have had to been given to him in very high doses, more than once. Letill if taken more than four or five times, can have very serious side effects, one of which is amnesia. Master Qui-Gon the boy is lucky that the memory loss seems to be the only side effect that he had suffered. Every other patient that I had that had as much of the drug in their system as he did were sent to the morgue."  
  
"Is the memory loss permanent?" Clee asked from her chair.  
  
"No, it shouldn't be. He is already beginning to regain some of his memory. And I'm sure that if you tell him about his past it will help. When you get him home, the familiar surrounding should help even more. Sometimes a patient will regain their memory gradually over time, and sometimes it will return all at once, or within a few days time."  
  
"Can I see him?" Qui-Gon asked.  
  
"He is resting right now, but yes you can sit with him. It may help him when he wakes up if he is not alone. He will be allowed to leave tomorrow, but I suggest that you take him to see your own healers as soon as you reach the temple."  
  
"Thank you," Qui-Gon said, "I'll see that he does," Qui-Gon then quickly left the room.  
  
Obi-Wan was lying on a bed in the healing room. He was awake and was staring out the window on the far side of the room. Qui-Gon stood in the open door way watching him for a few minutes before Obi-Wan finally looked in his direction, and saw him. Qui-Gon slowly entered the room.  
  
"Hi," Obi-Wan said.  
  
"How do you feel?"  
  
"Better. Thank you for trying to help me Master Qui-Gon."  
  
Qui-Gon noticed that the boy looked sad, "is something bothering you?" he asked.  
  
"I remember some things. When the healers were in here. I was in the healers at the temple because I had broken my arm on a mission. The healer was complaining to Master Craydin because I had been released from the healers only five days before that after I injured my knee during a sparring match."  
  
"Oh, so you've made visiting the healers a habit then," Qui-Gon smiled.  
  
"Yeah, I guess so," Obi-Wan said looking down at his hands, as Qui-Gon sat down on the chair that was near the bed. "He's dead isn't he?"  
  
"Who?" Qui-Gon asked although he had a pretty good idea of whom the teenager was asking about.  
  
"Master Craydin. He was my master. I remember a lot of different things now. I remember that he took me as his padawan after you-after Melida/Dann. When Avery shot me, it reminded me of all the shooting that I saw there."  
  
"Yes," Qui-Gon sighed, "he was killed in the explosion of the capital building. Before he died he said to tell you that he was glad to have you as a padawan."  
  
A single tear escaped the boy's eyes before he could stop it, "what will happen to me now?" Am I going to be sent to Agri-Corps?"  
  
"No," Qui-Gon said, lifting the boy's chin so that Obi-Wan was now looking at him. "I would like you to be my padawan learner, we could try again. Obi-Wan would you be my padawan again?"  
  
Obi-Wan's eyes grew wide after Qui-Gon's question, and then he said, "no."  
  
Qui-Gon felt as if the boy had just stabbed him in the stomach with a lightsaber. "Very well. If you will excuse me Obi-Wan I must prepare the arrangements for our return to the temple tomorrow, and you need to rest," Qui-Gon stood up, and left the room with out looking back.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
Obi-Wan sat on a chair in the sleeping quarters that he and Master Qui-Gon would be sharing for the trip back to the temple. He was staring out the window at the passing stars, when Siri walked into the small room.  
  
"Obi-Wan," Siri said, "are you hungry? Master Adi asked me to see if you needed anything."  
  
"No thanks, I'm not hungry."  
  
"Ok," Siri said, and sat down on the sleep couch across the room from his. "Master Qui-Gon said that he had asked you to be his padawan again. He really didn't say too much about it, but he is not a very talkative man I guess. I think it's great though; I just can't picture you as a farmer."  
  
"I said no," Obi-Wan told her quietly.  
  
"What?"  
  
"I told him no, I'm not going to be his padawan again."  
  
"Are you crazy Obi-Wan Kenobi?"  
  
"No, I would rather go to the Agri-Corps than to be a padawan out of pity."  
  
"You are unbelievable. Master Qui-Gon told Adi that he missed you and realized that he made a mistake; by not taking you back sooner. He was going to ask you when we got back to the temple from our mission, but the Master Adi told him that you were already chosen by Knight Craydin, and then Master Yoda contacted us and told us about the explosion. Master Qui- Gon was obviously upset when he thought you were dead, but he tried to hide his feelings, I think."  
  
"Good at hiding how he feels Qui-Gon is," Yoda said from the open doorway of the room.  
  
"Master Yoda," Obi-Wan said. His cheeks began to turn red as he remembered that he had called the wise Jedi Master "the little green guy."  
  
"Temporary padawan Knight Craydin took. Knew Qui-Gon would change his mind, Craydin did."  
  
"You mean that Master Craydin knew Qui-Gon would ask me to be his padawan again?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
Yoda nodded his head and said, "knew also belong in Agri-Corps you do not. Help you he did, until ready was Qui-Gon."  
  
Obi-Wan could not believe what Siri and Master Yoda had just told him. Master Qui-Gon did really want him as his apprentice and had not said it out of pity for him.  
  
He felt relief wash over him, like a warm shower. He had accepted Craydin Shaw as his master, but longed for Qui-Gon to be his teacher, and now after so long, he had gotten what he wanted, and thrown it away just like on Melida/Dann.  
  
"Talk to him you should," Yoda said before leaving the doorway.  
  
"You really should talk to him, I'm sure that his offer for you to be his padawan still stands," Siri said.  
  
Obi-Wan didn't answer her; instead he laid down on the sleep couch. Why would Qui-Gon take him back after he refused the man again? Siri quietly left the room, leaving the boy alone to think about how he once again messed up his life with one stupid mistake.  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
Obi-Wan woke up later on the sleep couch, to a quiet ship. The lights in the small room that he had been on since they departed Vardell were turned out and he could hear the steady breathing of someone else in the room. He guessed that it was Qui-Gon who was asleep in the bed across the room from him.  
  
Obi-Wan was tired of lying on the sleep couch. As quietly as he could he swung his legs over the side of the couch, and slowly stood up. He looked over at Qui-Gon who was laying on his back with his eyes closed, and then started to walk towards the door way.  
  
The boy made his way to the galley as quietly as he could, not wanting to disturb the other sleeping passengers of the ship. His knee still felt very sore, and he had a slight limp as he made his way down the hall.  
  
Once in the small galley he was relieved to find that someone had left out some fruits and rolls out on the counter in bowls. He quickly filled a bowl full of fruit and two rolls, and sat down at the smaller of the two tables that were in the galley.  
  
"I thought that you might get up in the middle of the night to claim a snack, since Siri said that you did not want to eat your dinner earlier," Master Clee said standing in the door way. "I remembered Craydin telling me once that you really liked fruit."  
  
"Thank you," Obi-Wan said hungrily taking a bite of a piece of muja fruit.  
  
The Jedi Master smiled at the boy, and sat down at the table across from him. "Qui-Gon said that you remembered Craydin."  
  
"Yes," Obi-Wan answered looking up at her. "Master Yoda said that Master Craydin only took me as his padawan until Qui-Gon realized that he did want me back."  
  
"Yes, he did. Craydin knew that you would make a powerful Jedi one day and also knew that Qui-Gon would realize that he did want you back, which he did. Craydin was prepared to be your master on a permanent basis if Qui- Gon did not come back for you." Clee smiled slightly, "he really was fond of you. Every time that he had come to visit me when we were both at the temple at the same time, all he could do was talk of how well you were doing and how eager to become a knight you were. He was proud of you."  
  
"But it took so long for us to develop a strong bond?" Obi-Wan asked.  
  
Clee smiled again, "yes, it did. That I'm afraid was my fault. I asked Craydin to wait to form a strong bond so that when Qui-Gon returned for you it would not be as difficult for him to let you go."  
  
"But if he really wanted me he could have fought for me," Obi-Wan said after swallowing another bite of fruit.  
  
"I'm sure he would have. You see I had told him not to allow a bond between the two of you until after Qui-Gon returned from the constant missions that he was involved in. Craydin told me that the force told him to form the bond with you. He told me that he would remain your master until his death. I at first thought that he had just not wanted to give you up to Master Qui-Gon because we both knew that in a few months Qui-Gon would be finished with his missions.  
  
"I now know that he had foreseen his death, and most likely foreseen that Qui-Gon would take you back."  
  
Obi-Wan looked up at her, "but I screwed everything up again," he said so quietly that Clee could barely hear him, as he lowered his head.  
  
"What do you mean?"  
  
"He asked me to be his padawan again and I told him no. I thought that he was just doing it out of pity, because of Master Craydin's death, and I would rather work in the Agri-Corps than to be chosen as a padawan out of pity."  
  
"And I would never choose a padawan because I pitied them. The force directs my choice, although I do have a bad habit of trying to ignore what it is telling me and causing you pain," Qui-Gon said standing in the doorway of the galley.  
  
"Master Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan said raising his head to look at the tall man leaning against the doorframe.  
  
"I think you two should talk," Clee said and got up to leave the room. Obi- Wan noticed the smile that she gave Qui-Gon before she walked out of the galley. After she had left Qui-Gon then walked further into the room and sat down where she had been sitting.  
  
"I'm sorry Obi-Wan I should have explained my self better."  
  
Obi-Wan starred at the man sitting across from him in shock he was not expecting the man to apologize to him, when it was he who had jumped to conclusions about the man's reasons for asking him as his apprentice. "No, Master Qui-Gon I'm sorry. I shouldn't-"  
  
"Obi-Wan don't apologize. After Xanatos I promised that I would not take on another padawan. And even though the force was pulling me towards you, I tried to deny what was happening, even when we had begun to form a bond. I won't lie to you Obi-Wan after you chose to stay on Melida/Dann I was hurt. I had let myself get close to you and then you had. . . ." Qui-Gon trailed off.  
  
Obi-Wan who could no longer look into his eyes again lowered his head to stare at his half eaten plate of food. "I never meant to hurt you, I just thought at the time that I was doing what I was meant to do, what the force was telling me to do, but I was wrong and I-"  
  
"Obi-Wan look at me," Qui-Gon interrupted him. Slowly Obi-Wan looked up at Qui-Gon, "listen to me. I know that you did not intend to hurt me, and I know that you would never turn to the dark side. After you helped me with Xanatos on Telos, I was frightened that I could not be a good enough master to you. I was uncertain of my ability to train you."  
  
"Xanatos was not your fault," Obi-Wan said, "you would have been a great master, and I would have been honored to be your padawan again."  
  
"You know when I found your lightsaber half melted in the debris near the worst hit section of the building, and realized that there was little chance that you could have survived, I felt lost. I thought that if only it would not have taken so long for me to realize that the bond we had started was stronger than what I had with Xanatos and . . ." he trailed off again.  
  
Obi-Wan stared at the man across from him in awe of the emotions that he saw on his features, and was at a loss for words.  
  
"What I'm trying to say Obi-Wan is that perhaps we could be a team again. Would you be my padawan?"  
  
Obi-Wan could not help but smile, "yes, I accept you as my master."  
  
* *** * *** *  
  
"Obi-Wan," Clee said as she, Adi, Siri, Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and Yoda sat in the galley eating lunch, before they reached Coruscant in a couple of hours, "when I contacted the temple to let them know that we would be returning in a few hours, Mace told me that the Vardelli's had caught the men responsible for your kidnapping."  
  
Qui-Gon looked at his apprentice who nodded. Qui-Gon knew that the boy did not want to talk about them. Suddenly the boy's expression changed and he noticed the mischievous gleam that sparkled in Obi-Wan's eyes.  
  
"So Siri," Obi-Wan began, "I didn't know that you considered me a friend of yours, I'm really touched. Maybe if you want I can help you with your saber practice, and I'm sure that Bant, Reeft, and-"  
  
"Who says I wasn't just saying that to make you feel better," Siri said.  
  
Obi-Wan smiled, "but you are a Jedi padawan, and you are not supposed to lie."  
  
"You know Obi-Wan Kenobi, I liked you better when you didn't know who you were," Siri commented.  
  
Qui-Gon looked at Adi Gallia and smiled. The girl's master smiled back at him knowing that things at least with their padawans were already beginning to get back to normal.  
  
The End 


End file.
